Things to Know Before Your Next Adventure

It's not just about Instagrammable experiences.

Let’s be honest: In your 20s, there are few things more grueling than shoving that itch to travel, move and experience new things to the side. It seems most of the conversations I have with my peers involve some sort of “What’s next” conversation.

“What season is around the corner?” “Where will you move?” “Where will you go next?” “Now’s the time in our lives to make it happen.”

I’m guilty of this. I’m guilty of focusing on the next season rather than soaking up every single minute of my current season God has me planted in for a reason. I’m guilty of searching for places to just “go” and memories to make and photos to capture and stories to tell.

51 percent of millennials have changed locations for a job, while 48 percent say they’ve moved for lifestyle reasons or for a new experience. Less predictably, almost a third have moved to get away from family and friends, perhaps trying to loosen the apron strings with their helicopter boomer parents. A romantically minded 46 percent report that they moved for love.

Honestly, our generation hears the words “move” and “go,” and we are all in.

Here’s what I know: God has each and every one of us in our present seasons to prepare us, equip us and lead us into the season that is just around the corner. Whether the new season is a move, a job or a change of scenery, God wants us to allow Him full control in every step of the way.

But that itch isn’t always bad—in fact, it can be good. Here are four things to consider when that itch to go comes to the surface:

We don’t go out. We are led out.

My husband and I have had numerous conversations about our future steps. Here we are, a 20-something, married couple, staring at the world and realizing it is our oyster. Every part of us wants to “go.” We want to go across the country and go across the world and go into the dark places and go into the brightest places. We want to see, do, feel and experience everything this world has to offer.

But at the end of the day, as Christians, we recognize we must not “go” out, we must be led out. As we all seek God’s Will and plan for our paths, we must seek to be led by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16) and not by our personal agendas. As much as I would love to uproot and plant our family in a hustle and bustle cityscape with a gorgeous urban apartment along the East coast, I must seek God’s desire for our family before I even consider my own. And I certainly do not want to just “go” and miss out on all of the other opportunities God had lined up for me in a season I discarded and left behind.

We don’t go meaninglessly.

I’ve experienced firsthand how liberating it is to hop on a plane alone, and just go. For the thrill, for the adventure, for the new faces. There have definitely been trips that were Spirit-led, and there have definitely been trips that were personal-agenda led. What a conviction it was when I realized this freedom to “go” must not be used lightly. I used to find gratification in just aimlessly wandering. I thought, certainly, I would find meaning along the meaningless journey.

The apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 9:26, writes, “So I run with purpose in every step.” I want my life—my family, my marriage, my walk with God—to have purpose in every single step. Purpose in every decision. Purpose in every move. Purpose in every job change. Purpose in every relationship. Purpose in every prayer.

Our freedom to go belongs to Christ.

I envision all of the 20-somethings in the world who have this picture perfect idea of how their life will be set up throughout these crucial years in their 20s to all “sigh” simultaneously in this moment. Our freedom? That freedom the world tells us is solely ours at this age? That freedom to decide who we want to be, what we want to believe in, who we want to support, which political party we want to align with, where we want to live, everything? It all belongs to Christ.

Absolutely. In fact, Paul writes in Galatians 5:13, “You have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.”

Have you asked yourself, “If I go, God, am I continuing to serve You and others in love? Will this move or experience further your Kingdom and fulfill Your purpose for my life?” And if so, then go with peace.

Our desire to ‘go and make disciples’ should trump our desire to ‘go and experience.’

Ultimately, we must seek to “go” and make Jesus known, disciple others, and be the hands and feet. The world tells us to go and pursue happiness for our self-fulfillment, but Jesus says to go and deny ourselves, while taking up our crosses. (Mathew 16:24)

The world tells us to go and lust after Instagram moments, but Jesus says to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to everyone. (Mark 16:15)

The world tells us to go and experience all of the pleasures that can be found in our youth, but the book of Acts teaches us to go and consider our lives nothing to us, and only aim to finish the race and complete the task God has given us—to share His grace. (Acts 20:24)

Before we go, let us pursue God’s plan for our journey, job and new experiences. Let us seek Him, and Him alone, to direct our footsteps, changes and paths.